


As He Sank Beneath The Tides

by UnderscoreMax



Series: Mermaid Au's [3]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Ocean, Sirens, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:27:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25755853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderscoreMax/pseuds/UnderscoreMax
Summary: Was he destined to die at the bottom of the sea, in her most unforgiving state?
Relationships: Flynn Fairwind/Mathias Shaw
Series: Mermaid Au's [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868425
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	As He Sank Beneath The Tides

**Author's Note:**

> hhghfj this is the longest story i think ive ever written
> 
> thank you izzy for enabling me and giving me ideas,,,,i love u

The ship heaved hard to port, boxes sliding across the slick deck. A storm raging around them. Flynn held tightly to the ropes, hearing the shouts of his crew mates around the ship, all panicked orders. He braced himself as the ship lurched in the other direction, feet unstable on the water-logged boards. He slipped, still holding fast to the ropes, but managed to heave himself to his feet, facing the nearing ocean. Heavy scrapes came from behind him, and a box slammed into his back. All the air left his lungs, he lost all grip, watching with wide eyes as the swirling sea came to swallow him.

It burned. Everything did. His eyes, his throat, his lungs. Where was up. Oh, tides this was it. Flynn tried to cough, a desperate attempt to get out the sea water, desperate for air. His body shook. It was so dark. 

Was he destined to die at the bottom of the sea, in her most unforgiving state?

Something came closer to him, a faint glow surrounding it. The fish were here already? He hadn't even died yet. 

But the closer he looked, through the enveloping darkness, the thing seemed more beautiful. Maybe it was a mermaid. Tides, he was already gone wasn't he.

For a fleeting second, he was calm enough to see. His chest hurt less, he could stop coughing up water, stop pulling in twice as much. He felt heavy, but he could see. The creature did glow, just faintly enough to see its features. 

It was the face of a determined man, slightly glowing green eyes staring into his. His moustache pointed down, matching his frown. Well, this wasn't the worst sight to see before he died.

The burning didn't come back, but he couldn't see as well, slowly fading away. Flynn twisted, body reacting on its own, trying to get away from whatever it was that was stealing his sight.

.

.

He woke up on a beach, immediately flopping over and coughing violently. He braced himself on his hands and knees, the last dregs of water trying to pull themselves from his lungs. It burned. He was alive.

He sat back on his heels, pulling a hand to his chest. Feeling the unsteady rise and fall, a little rattle in his chest that felt aflame. A shell rested under his fingers, tied around his neck. Flynn made a face, pulling the shell up to look at it. It shined, a glimmer surrounding it even in the evening sun. He had a passing thought of a glowing mermaid, with stunning eyes and auburn hair. He shook it off, turning the shell over. The inside held a series of runes tracing the outline, and a poorly scrawled word in the center. Flynn turned the shell a few times before settling on the word "help", that seemed like it fit the chicken scratch handwriting.

He let the shell fall, looking around the beach for anything recognizable. In the distance held Daelin's gate, so he stood, shaking and unstable as he was, and tredged onward. 

.

.

Flynn found his dreams full of a stormy sea and glowing eyes. Peace within chaos. An unexpected savior. It felt fake, like it couldn't have happened. If not for the shell strung around his neck, he would've believed it to be a dream.

.

.

The ship didn't rock like it did before, but Flynn was even closer to sheer panic. A cutlass held at his throat. A mutiny. He tried not to make a noise as his first mate drawled on, blade cutting into the soft skin of his neck. His spine ramrod straight, pushed into the mast.

He heard an order to toss him overboard. A new swell of fear formed. 

Two sets of strong hands grabbed him. On instinct he tried to escape, but that was cut short by a sharp blade nearing him once more.

The sea churned calmly, but they were miles from land. Even if they weren't, he could feel heavy metal clamping around his ankles, connecting his wrists together.

The water swallowed him again. Flynn sank quickly, struggling against his bonds. The light above him faded, all sense of direction leaving him, save for knowing he was going down.

For a moment, he thought about those green eyes he'd seen months ago. The shell still held around his neck. 

With little other options, he pushed his chin down on the shell. His lungs hurt with the old air held within and his head swam, but he kept the shell tucked close.

.

.

The sounds of water lapping against stone reverberated within the cave walls. Under him, he could feel damp stone, not much bigger than a cot in his ship. Something was trailing around his body, inspecting. It felt similar to a shark's skin, soft, but with a gritty edge that wasn't realized until it was gone. 

It was dark, a faint light came from below his face, and another from beside his arm. Flynn turned his head to the other light, flinching at the effort of the simple action. Beside him was the mermaid, those same green eyes tracing over his body. He seemed embarrassingly stripped of clothes, but dry.

The creature spoke, voice commanding but concerned.

"Stop drowning." they didn't seem to like using common, a strange accent surrounding his words.

Flynn laughed, cut short by a sharp pain in his ribs. He smiled, " 'M not tryn to so swimmin' mate, promise it's been a mistake every time."

They looked him over, eyes squinting.

"So, ah, you got a name?"

"Mathias" 

Flynn hummed in acknowledgement, " 'M Flynn Fairwind, a pirate by trade, though currently crewless." He looked around the cavern. "So, if you don't mind my askin', where might I be?"

Mathias followed his gaze, trailing the walls. "This is home. Part of my pod's system."

"Your 'pod'?"

He nodded, "The Stormwind pod, under Wrynn rule. It's like the land walker, ah," he paused, trying to remember the word, "family."

A low sound came from the water, and Mathias dipped his head under, listening. Flynn just stared for a moment before the mermaid surfaced again.

"You stay here. Rest. I'll be back." He said quickly before swimming off.

.

.

Flynn kicked his feet lazily in the water, looking around the dark cave. Something grabbed onto his feet, and he nearly jumped out of his skin before Mathias surfaced. He pushed Flynn's feet onto the rock.

"You, stay out of the water" 

Flynn laughed, a happy sound that made Mathias' ears perk up. "Mate, I can touch the water, just can't breathe it."

Mathias still stared up at him, hands clasped around his bare ankles.

"You'll die if you stay in too long without a blessing."

"Well, yes, but I'm not made to live in the ocean."

Mathias squinted, but accepted the answer. He pulled up a bag, wrapped in a waterproof seal. "This came from a boat, it's food, right?" He handed it over.

Accepting it, Flynn pulled at the packaging, finding some mildly stale rations. It was better than nothing. There was even a small water pouch.

Mathias stared at the tin, questioning eyes looking over the dried food. One slender finger poked at the biscuit. Flynn smiled, breaking off a bit and handing it over. Mathias looked at it queerly, slowly putting it in his mouth, making a face as soon as he closed his mouth. 

Flynn laughed, "Yeah, those aren't great, but it's food I guess."

"Bad food"

"You got me there"

.

.

Small noises reverberated from around the mouth of the cave, interrupting the two's talk. Mathias made a face, a little annoyed. Three small faces popped up from the water, eyes just as bright as Mathias'. They swam over, surrounding the rock Flynn sat on, speaking so quickly that neither could understand them. Though, it didn't help that Flynn didn't know what they were even speaking.

Mathias spoke up, thankfully in common. "Slow down, if you want us to answer anything."

The smallest one, floating in the front, started. "Where are you from?"

"Boralus."

"Where's that?" The one in the back, off to the left nearly shouted. 

"Tiragarde Sound, the big city by the dams."

That seemed to make enough sense, as they moved on to another barrage of questions.

"Where's your gills?"  
"Why don't you have a tail?"  
"My momma said that I'll dry up if I stay out of the water too long? Are you gonna dry up?"  
"Why don't your eyes glow? Are you sick?"  
"Mathias said you're a pirate! Where's your sword? Do you have a ship? Do you have a lot of money?"

"Ok! ok! that's enough! I'm sure our guest would appreciate a moment of rest!" Mathias shooed them off, displeased grumbles coming from the small group.

"Well then! That was fun" Flynn said, smiling at Mathias' grumpy look.

"Hm, I think we have different ideas of fun."

"Oh? You don't enjoy being barraged with questions from the children?" He said, tilting his head in mock confusion.

Mathias placed his hands on either side of Flynn's knees, pushing himself up, close to eye level. "It's not my favorite pastime."

Flynn hummed, seemingly caught in the bright green eyes in front of him. Maybe he was wrong, and they were all sirens. Mathias definitely pulled him in like one.

As if breaking out of a trance, Mathias suddenly leaned back and spoke. "I can give you a short blessing. It would allow you to go in the water, see the pod system and our community."

"Yeah," Flynn nodded, "yeah I'd like that"

.

.

The town glowed, much like the people living within. Small bobbles of light, all strung together with green rope, decorated the outside of the caves. The entire town was part of a cave system. 

Mathias looked over at the human, glowing in the lights around him. Eyes sparkling, mouth slightly ajar. Perhaps the town just had that effect on people.

He pointed out a few notable places. His favorite place to eat. The royal keep. A few small shops. Somehow, no matter what he pointed to, Flynn always looked back to him.

.

.

Mathias' home was quaint, no bigger than he needed. He didn't ever want a big home. Smooth rock walls, a few sculptures, glowing bobbles.

His back was pressed against a wall, Flynn pressed just as closely. For a moment, he let himself enjoy the feeling, warmth this far under the sea was always welcome. His fingers trailed over Flynn's arm, feeling a small layer of air. He leaned back, opening his mouth to speak before he could be interrupted.

"Get on the stone, your blessing is almost over. You're not drowning again."

Flynn laughed, swimming back and pulling himself on the elevated rock. Mathias placed his hands beside Flynn's knees, pulling his torso between his legs, leaning close again.

Maybe nearly drowning a few times was a bit dramatic, but this was a good reward.


End file.
